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The 2022 Edgar Awards - Nominations

The Edgar nominees were released a couple weeks ago. I have thoughts as you would expect from someone who now seems to update this blog only 2-3 times a year. But before that let me again wonder aloud why this was not broadcasted. The MWA put the Awards on YouTube in 2021. I had hoped this would push the membership to announce the awards with something more dynamic than a press release. Put a couple people on a YouTube screen, little bit of a back and forth, and announce some nominations. They have a YouTube channel that has been dormant for 8 months... the irony is not lost on me... but alas....

As for the nominations, I always squint my eyes at the list and think... 'Not only have I not read these books, but I have also never heard of these books.' Please do not get me wrong. I love Crime Fiction. I have read it for 30 years. The vastness of the field ensures the possibility that with every new book you read you can discover a new favorite author or sub-genre that will send you off on a wonderful journey.

But year in and year out when I click on that PDF from the MWA I see books and authors I don't know... and it is a little bit of let down. A let down because on some level I believe I have good taste in Crime Fiction and that good taste should somehow be reflected in the nominations. 

That, of course, is absurd. But in saying that it is a pleasant surprise that the 2022 list contains the most recognizable nominees to me in many, many years.

BEST NOVEL

THE VENICE SKETCHBOOK by Rhys Bowen (Amazon Publishing – Lake Union)
RAZORBLADE TEARS by S.A. Cosby (Macmillan Publishers – Flatiron Books)
FIVE DECEMBERS by James Kestrel (Hard Case Crime)
HOW LUCKY by Will Leitch (HarperCollins - Harper)
NO WILL MISS HERE by Kat Rosenfield (HarperCollins – William Morrow)

I would be stunned if  RAZORBLADE TEARS does not win Best Novel. I know Rhys Bowen has legions of fans and FIVE DECEMBERS is highly regarded. But S.A. Cosby's novel has dominated the Crime Fiction discourse since its Summer 2021 release...and really since BLACKTOP HIGHWAY the year before. RAZORBLADE TEARS is the book for our time.

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

DEER SEASON by Erin Flanagan (University of Nebraska Press)
NEVER SAW ME COMING by Vera Kurian (Harlequin Trade Publishing – Park Row)
SUBURBAN DICKS by t (Penguin Random House – G.P. Putnam's Sons)
WHAT COMES AFTER by JoAnne Tompkins (Penguin Random House – Riverhead Books)
THE DAMAGE by Caitlin Wahrer (Penguin Random House – Viking Books/Pamela Dorman Books)

While I am bereft at the lack of recognizable names in other categories, Best First Novel is always the most exciting category. The thrill of discovering an author is something to be chased. Of all the books DEER SEASON is the one that piques my interest. The other book is SUBURBAN DICKS. It intrigues me because I miss the the comedic crime fiction novel. I am thinking of the Spellman books from Liza Lutz or the Hitchcock Sewell books from Tim Cockey, and to a slightly lesser extent the John Cepak novels from Chris Grabenstein. All of them blended comedy and crime in just the right amount to make really enjoyable 'fun' books. If I do anything in 2022, I should find a series that scratches this itch.

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

KILL ALL YOUR DARLINGS by David Bell (Penguin Random House - Berkley)
THE LIGHTHOUSE WITCHES by C.J. Cooke (Penguin Random House - Berkley)
THE ALBUM OF DR. MOREAU by Daryl Gregory (Tom Doherty Associates - Tordotcom)
STARR SIGN by C.S. O'Cinneide (Dundurn Press)
BOBBY MARCH WILL LIVE FOREVER by Alan Parks (Europa Editions – World Noir)
THE SHAPE OF DARKNESS by Laura Purcell (Penguin Random House – Penguin Books)

There is a book called THE LIGHTHOUSE WITCHES. Bad ass. End of comment.

BEST YOUNG ADULT

ACE OF SPADES by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé (Macmillan Children's Publishing – Feiwel & Friends)
FIREKEEPER'S DAUGHTER by Angeline Boulley (Macmillan Children's Publishing – Henry Holt and Company BFYR)
WHEN YOU LOOK LIKE US by Pamela N. Harris (HarperCollins – Quill Tree Books)
THE FOREST OF STOLEN GIRLS by June Hur (Macmillan Children's Books – Feiwel & Friends)
THE GIRLS I'VE BEEN by Tess Sharpe (Penguin Young Readers – G.P. Putnam's Sons BFYR)

At some point, lost to the mist of time, I picked up FIREKEEPER'S DAUGHTER. Every few years I brush up against Native American stories. I was super excited about WINTERS COUNTS by David Heska Wanbli Weiden. Similar to my last post about IRA stories, I am just as intrigued by the the true life stories of AIM in the 1970s. I'm always daunted by the page counts of YA novels though (F.K. is 488 pages) and for that reason it is the longest serving resident on my To Be Read shelf. Still, I am glad to have found this book.

THE SIMON & SCHUSTER MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD

THE SECRET LIFE OF MISS MARY BENNET by Katherine Cowley (Tule Publishing - Tule Mystery)
RUBY RED HERRING by Tracy Gardner (Crooked Lane Books)
CLARK AND DIVISION by Naomi Hirahara (Soho Press – Soho Crime)
THE SIGN OF DEATH by Callie Hutton (Crooked Lane Books)
CHAPTER AND CURSE by Elizabeth Penney (St. Martin's Paperbacks)

Glad to see CLARK AND DIVISION here. I did not do a 'Best of' 2021, but CLARK AND DIVISION would most certainly have made it. I am from the mid-west and I love Chicago stories. Chicago was never my home, but the best Chicago set books are still able to conjurer up feels of home inside me.  This sweetly sad story also had Walter Mosely/Easy Rawlins vibes. I would love to see these characters become a series.

SPECIAL AWARDS

GRAND MASTER  -- Laurie R. King 

Yay! I've been reading the Mary Russell since since A LETTER OF MARY 25 years ago. Finely detailed work that is both adventurous and and deeply authentic to the Sherlock Holmes legacy. She is deserving of this crowning achievement and I can't wait for the next book.

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